Australia's beautiful state of Queensland is experiencing horrific floods right now, the worst in our history. Over one third of the state is a disaster zone. Lives have been lost and many people are missing. The floods have now hit the city of Brisbane, Australia's third largest city, with many 1000s of people having to evacuate their homes.
Please pray – for the residents, the recuse workers, the political leaders and for local church communities. Difficult times such as these always provide an opportunity for followers of Christ to show His love and compassion in practical ways.
Also, why not consider making a financial donation to the relief effort.
When natural disasters, such as these floods, take place on our planet, many people wonder where God is, what is the cause, and whether this is a sign of judgment (click here and here for examples). I have addressed these issues before when the Victoria bush fires took place (click here and here), as well as the Asian tsunami. Follow the links for some related thoughts.
Mark in January 2010 during our time of special prayer, I gave you the word of the Lord concerning that which was coming upon the earth.
End of Days.
In October 2009. I was praying and the Lord spoke to me and prompted me to get down before him. I had a vision, I saw the heavens and fire was coming out of the heavens, the fire came out of darkness within the heavens, I looked at the fire, the fire was not demonic in any way, it was boiling and rolling as it passed through the heavens. It went around the back of the earth and consumed the whole earth, like a hand closing around it. I then pondered what the vision meant. As I was wondering about the interpretation the holy spirit then came upon me in a travailing and I cried out, and wept much, it was in the process of this that the interpretation was given. The judgements that are within this fire will take many millions of people into eternity. It is immanent even upon us now. My thought at the end of this, the will of the Lord be done although it was so dire.
I exhort all my friend to prepare for this. Earthquakes, famines, disease, plagues, cosmic disturbance. In our generation not another.
Issues such as power generation for your family should be considered, as well as fresh water, and food. I am quite convinced that it is in truth from the Lord,
When we see all these thing happening focus on what God has said in his word, that will sustain us.
2 Peter 3:10-13
I believe we are in the period of Gods judgments upon the earth, the Queensland floods are part of it.
Can’t let the above post go unchecked. Its gnostic hocus pocus that resembles one of my favorite Cadbury Bars – FLAKE.
The bible tells me that God won’t visit judgement on a place if there be 10 righteous found. (Genesis – round chapter 5-10 I think)
Its my hope and prayer that new believers (and the media) would distance themselves from this teaching & completely disregard what some bloke heard whilst in some religious trance/vision.
The Bible is your final authority. We will all one day face Judgement but this flood and the flake aren’t it! Shalom
Well said Chris. The Bible is the final authority. Everything else can be tainted by man and must be weighed up with the Scripture. If it does not line up, we throw it out. And the scripture you’re referring to is where they are talking about Sodom and Gomorrah.
And to bring a quote from Mark’s articles, which he links and should be read in FULL for all the other scriptural references:
“we need to realise that we are in the time of God’s favour NOT of God’s judgment. The first sermon Jesus preached was from Isaiah 61. He finished reading after this sentence … “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” He then closed the book and sat down saying, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” What is interesting is that Jesus stopped reading in the middle of a sentence. The rest of the sentence says “… and the day of vengeance of our God.” He didn’t read that because that is not this time. Jesus introduced a day of grace and mercy for people, and we are still living in that time. His second coming will be the time for vengeance and judgment. That doesn’t mean that people today won’t at times suffer the consequences of their actions but this is not the day of God’s judgment. ”
Hi Janelle
Just a couple of points I want to make concerning being based in Scripture regarding the Judgements of God upon the earth.
In Revelation 6 :1
6:1 I saw that the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with a voice of thunder, “Come and see!”
The scriptures are quite clear about Christ being worthy to open the seals and for the wrath of God to be poured out full strength upon the earth.
You say we must be grounded in scriptures, here is the group of scriptures defining what is pouring out upon the earth. You can go all the way to verse 17. Don’t be ignorant of the fact that the father wants to bring about the return of Christ, for this to happen his judgments will be manifest upon the earth.
Look at the third seal being opened and its result upon the earth, scarcity of food. Do you know the result of the droughts in Russia which it’s reported to in one season wipe out up to 50% of there arable land.
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aGy_eYK7ajCk
and the drought and dust storms in China
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_China_drought_and_dust_storms
need I say more of the crop reducing events in the United States as well as there severe shortage of honey bees due to disease.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1343979/Bumblebees-risk-wiped-96-decline-species.html
It will be World wide famine, the floods in Queensland will only add to the woe.
So I say and warn, this period we have entered cannot be said to be a copy of something that has happened in the past, we haven’t been this way before.
6:2 And behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow. A crown was given to him, and he came forth conquering, and to conquer.
6:3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come!”
6:4 Another came forth, a red horse. To him who sat on it was given power to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. There was given to him a great sword.
6:5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come and see!” And behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a balance in his hand.
6:6 I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A choenix of wheat for a denarius, and three choenix of barley for a denarius! Don’t damage the oil and the wine!”
6:7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see!”
6:8 And behold, a pale horse, and he who sat on it, his name was Death. Hades followed with him. Authority over one fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, with famine, with death, and by the wild animals of the earth was given to him.
6:9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the Word of God, and for the testimony of the Lamb which they had.
6:10 They cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
6:11 A long white robe was given to each of them. They were told that they should rest yet for a while, until their fellow servants and their brothers, who would also be killed even as they were, should complete their course.
6:12 I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became as blood.
6:13 The stars of the sky fell to the earth, like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when it is shaken by a great wind.
6:14 The sky was removed like a scroll when it is rolled up. Every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
6:15 The kings of the earth, the princes, the commanding officers, the rich, the strong, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains.
6:16 They told the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,
6:17 for the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”
Mark,
I have just sent you a friend request on Facebook. Today I had a long discussion with Tony Clark from “Swags for Homeless” about the Qld & NSW flood victims plight.
I have a psychology/health promotion/journalism degree from Deakin University. I can’t get up to Qld but I CAN do something online to fundraise & raise awareness of this issue.
I have set up a fundraising page to raise $62,000 to provide 1000 blankets and 700 swags (backpack beds) to victims. It can’t be any less than this.
http://www.everydayhero.com.au/judiegade
Tony agrees with me that there is going to be a massive amount of homelessness in the flooded areas, as it is not just the homes being affected but businesses that provide employment. He predicts in 2-3 months … I think it will be sooner.
I know you are a patron of “Swags for Homeless”,so I am seeking your support in helping promote this fundraising appeal.
God Bless
Judie
swags@judiegade.com.au
Hi SamuelD,
Let me add my 2 cents worth. If this is God’s judgement it is pretty tame. I have heard we are in end times so often but when I read Revelations and what is to come – this is a walk in the park compared to what will happen when God’s judgement comes. There is also the question whether saints will be raptured before or after judgement. The book of revelation is a series of prophecys and as such the order of events is not clear.
World War I and II saw massive loss of life – more than all the natural disasters combined in the 20th century.To say we have not seen events like this in the past is not correct. The 1974 floods were worse. We have had massive bushfires since settlement in this country. Mao and Stalin oversaw the murder of millions not to mention those who died of starvation under these regimes.
The world population has never been so great, so obviously there will be more pressure on food supplies. You are entitled to your opinion, it does not mean you are correct.
Perhaps both the views, that we are in a time of judgement and a time of the acceptable year of the Lord are both true- not mutually exclusive events. The fall has had deep and far reaching impacts on the world spiritually, morally, biologically, and geographically that is still being outplayed today.
The problem is that we really shouldn’t point to specific events and say why they occurred with any authority because we actually don’t know. This is where some go too far. We also shouldn’t be surprised, obsessed with or indifferent regarding such events.
These floods have nothing to do with the judgement of God.
Here’s the scoop folks – The reason people got flooded is because they built their houses ON a flood plain.
Of course the super spiritual. spooks. Gnostic’s and neo quasi Christians would never attest to that being a logical reasoning, they much prefer to attribute to God this suffering, then proffer themselves up as being the vehicle whereby they can soothe an angry (insert whatever reason for the anger here) God with their intercessions.
However genuine some of these people are, they are deceived if they think these floods are anything other than a natural disaster.
Beware of their Hocus-pocus bumken, continue to pray for those affected and like Mark said – perhaps consider making a donation to the relief effort.
Shalom
I tried to resist commenting as much as I could on this post, but it’s too close to home. (To save anyone asking, our suburb was not affected so we’re ok).
SAMMY D – I really don’t know where to begin. I love you from previous interactions but you worry me. Throwing a number of scriptures in the mix to make a biblical case is just as random as throwing a bag of vegetables with a sardine in the casserole and hoping you’ll get Bouillabaisse.
You’re making the erroneous connection that the calamities described in Revelation are a direct manifestation of what is happening around the world TODAY. Let me entertain your logic for the moment and apply it to some facts.
If Jesus was one of those litigious Westerners Sam, he could sue you for intellectual theft and copyright infringement.
So…passing someone else’s words from 21 centuries ago as ‘fresh revelation’ Sam is a little dishonest, and sorry if I don’t feel alarmed by your comments. I would humbly submit to you that the Holy Spirit did not give you the interpretation of what you thought you saw.
The best news for you though Sam, is that you live in the NT grace period and your transgression can be dealt with sincere repentance. If you took God’s name in vain like that in the Old Testament you’d be facing the death penalty. In case the ‘tone police’ is sending for my arrest, I am stating a biblical fact. Feel free to disagree.
The link that Mark provided to Danny Nalliah’s blog is disturbing. What worries me is that he seems to get air time from widely circulating papers like the Herald Sun and non Christians may assume he speaks for all of us.
His response to this is worse than the Vic bushfires because there at least he used ‘abortion’ as the trigger to the disaster. This time, all it took for the twitchy-fingered, trigger-happy God that he worships, was for Rudd to tell Israel in his capacity as foreign minster to “open all its nuclear facilities to UN inspectors” This apparently peeved God off so much that he said ‘right Kevo, where are you from again? Oh Queensland…I’ll show you. That comment deserves damaging 75% of the state and the major economic impact afterwards’
I’m hoping Kevin will learn his lesson, and if he truly cares for his political future he should hire Danny has his PR and damage control consultant.
Just an afterthought away from the ‘religious’ debate. The 24/7 live coverage the media has given to these floods is overwhelming and we continually hear words like ‘devastating, terrible, biblical proportions, tragedy’ etc.
I don’t mean to play that down as I live here and see it fist hand. But let’s put some perspective around it and consider scale. Only 6 months ago Pakistan had floods far worse than ours with much worse consequences and got a lot less coverage (ok it’s ‘overseas’). Our official death toll to date is 16, about 60 or so missing, a few thousand home owners & businesses affected state wide and about 1 billion economic impact.
Here are some facts about Pakistan:
In addition to the above, they did not have thousands of volunteers rushing to their aid to ‘clean up the mess’ within days, they did not get emergency government grants and payment relief from companies. They were not self-sufficient like us to get back on their feet but relied on UN aid to get funding which was allegedly delayed considerably.
So, yes it’s bad, but nowhere near as bad as other places on earth.
Hi Chris
In relation to the prophetic and the prophecy at the start of this post.
What does a wise response to it look like?
Hi John
In relation to Danny, I think his biggest problem is isolation/accountability to what he claims to have seen. I believe in his sincerity just unwise in his sifting process.
There should be at least 2 other prophets to judge as scripture 1 Coth 14:29.
To be clear John in relation to the vision I believe the father showed me, as to what was coming upon the earth.
I put to you that the opening of the seals in Revelation 6 did not happen instantly upon Christ’s entry into heaven, but rather it has a specific time period just before the return of Christ, (Daniels final week). Christ himself did not know the day of his return, but it’s a secret that God the father has kept to himself Matt 24:36-39
And what I believe the Lord showed me through this vision is we have entered into to it. If this is true then within a confined time period, there will be mass starvation, like the world has never experienced and other pestilence.
If it doesn’t happen then I must be deceived, and a false prophet and those other prophetic voices saying the same thing must be deceived also.
http://www.christianforums.com/t7445500/
What I know of the father is he will not just use one voice, but will use many prophetic voices saying simular things. Such as the prophets warning of the approaching famine in the book of Acts.
I find one of the great frustrations in the body of Christ is the defining of the functions within in it. “ The hand cannot say to the eye I have no need of you”
So the body has many functions but must rely on each other to function the way God intentioned it too. Romans 12:4.
So John not to flatter you but you have a great communication gift as well as interpreting the scriptures, so perhaps a mouth piece of the body of Christ.
But are you the eyes?
The difficulty is we must all rely on each other for the body to function the way God intentioned, but people within the body judge as if they all have the same function, or simular capabilities.
Hi Samuel D,
In answer to your question I would have thought John from Brisbane’s response was wise.
It therefore remains to be seen whether you will accept the reproof of instruction.
Shalom
I make no comment as to whether any of these floods are due to God’s Judgement or not, but as for someone claiming above that “we are in the time of God’s favour NOT of God’s judgment”, try telling that to Ananias and Saphira!